ANNE KEOTHAVONG broke down in tears after crashing out of Wimbledon – but it was her opponent, Patricia Mayr, who spelt out what a sad day this was for Britain.

Although Andy Murray won on Centre Court, six other Brits were sent packing from the courts of SW19.

Only Elena Baltacha’s 3-6 6-4 6-4 sundown win over Alona Bondarenko saved Britain from first-round carnage. At least the nation has two players in the second round.

The biggest blow was dealt to the nation’s top female player, Keothavong, who lost in straight sets by her Austrian counterpart on Court 4. And her conqueror revealed how low British tennis has sunk. Mayr is ranked 29 places below Keothavong, the world No51, and has played on grass only once, losing 6-2, 6-0 last week at a tournament in Germany – her fifth successive defeat on all surfaces.

What is more, it was only after an encouraging knock-up on Monday that she decided to book a hotel for last night.

She said: “I wasn’t expecting to stay in the tournament. I had not even booked a hotel for the rest of the week because I thought I would just
come and go. I only changed my mind after having a good practice
session the day before.”

Keothavong had a
chance to serve for the first set at 5-3 up, but failed to hold and
then won just two of the next 12 as Mayr wrapped up a 7-5, 6-2 victory.

In
a final damning indictment, Mayr claimed the reason she won was that
Keothavong did not have the bottle to live up to the expectations of a
packed court.

“I could see the pressure getting
to her but that was good for me,” said Mayr. “It is difficult to serve
and finish a set, especially for girls. I put more pressure on her and
I sensed she was struggling with it.

“Of course it helps opponents when the pressure is on the British players.

“She won a game last year and the game was in her country – that was good for me.”

Keothavong
was still having trouble dealing with her emotions an hour later in the
press conference. She was asked whether she felt she had let people
down by getting beaten and had to step out of the room for two minutes
to compose herself.

She said: “I feel like I’ve
let myself down more than anything. Wimbledon is such a special
tournament for me and I didn’t do myself justice.

“And, you know, this year especially, I just felt I’ve overcome so much just to get where I am.”